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In 1927, following the completion of Parliament House, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library moved to Canberra. Throughout 1926 preparations for the move of over 100 000 books were being made. Although the actual packing of the books was time-consuming, transportation proved to be the more pressing problem.

Site Being Cleared for Parliament House Canberra  1920s
First box of books loaded in removal of Library to Canberra 1926
enlarge imageSite being cleared for Parliament House Canberra  1920s
photograph
Pictorial Collection
enlarge image
Andrew Osborn (left) with two unknown men. First box of books loaded in removal of Library to Canberra 1926
photograph
Pictorial Collection

Library staff waiting the arrival of material from Melbourne 1927

enlarge imageWilliam James Mildenhall (fl. 1921–1962)
Library staff awaiting the arrival of material from Melbourne 1927
photograph
Mildenhall Collection
Pictorial Collection
(Kenneth Binns far left, Harold White third from left)

 

Kenneth Binns was in charge of the move and described the complex stages of conveying the books from Parliament House, Melbourne to Parliament House, Canberra:

They went by lorry from Parliament House, Melbourne to Spencer Street. There they were transferred by special rail truck, but this truck was a Melbourne or Victorian rail truck with a 5ft 3in gauge, and could not go on the New South Wales section, which is 4 ft 8in. This involved retrucking at Albury. From Albury they went by rail to Queanbeyan, which is the nearest town to Canberra … on the Melbourne–Sydney railroad. Fortunately, all that had to be done was to transfer the 70 or 80 cases which at last reached Queanbeyan but were not, of course, as yet even in Commonwealth territory. Queanbeyan retrucked them to the siding at Canberra for a rail siding was the only rail provision then existing in the national territory, and this rail siding was about four to five miles from Parliament House.

Kenneth Binns Oral History, 1967

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